Support the 2020 Silver Lake Conference Center Annual Appeal

10/15/2020

Campers climbing Mudge Mountain
Summer 2019
As the nights grow colder and I dream of warm days at the Lake, I remember lots of different things about being at camp. I hear children screaming with pure joy on Mudge Mountain. I smell marshmallows roasting over a campfire and taste Campfire Communion. I see Black Lives Matter signs and rainbow emblems, an outward sign of our commitment to a more just world, especially for our young people who are indeed the future.

What I don’t remember about camp is this: looking at the Silver Lake budget on a spreadsheet. Thinking about the positions that Silver Lake is currently hiring for. Wondering how much each meal costs per camper per week. Calculating how much it costs to maintain the high and low ropes courses. Wondering whether the budget is currently in a surplus or deficit.

Here’s the thing: whether we are quietly reading during a retreat, playing outside at Christmas at the Lake (sign up today!) or meeting at the amphitheater for sunset evening worship, we don’t need to quantify these formative experiences in terms of dollars and cents. On the other hand, our SLCC staff does. Even with the tremendous financial loss of in-person camp at the Lake this summer, our SLCC staff did a tremendously outstanding job of providing innovative and creative programming that transcended time and space to bring the best of SLCC directly to the homes of families. We are so fortunate to have this amazing outdoor ministry center with its vast acreage of God’s creation and six-person year round staff who support this work and programming with their time and talent.

And now, it’s our work to support Silver Lake Conference Center with our treasure. The SLCC Annual Appeal supports the day-to-day operating expenses that summer camp and retreats simply do not cover. And this year, SLCC needs your financial support more than ever.
 
Balancing on the Low Ropes course
How can you support the 2020 Silver Lake Conference Center Annual Appeal?
  • If you are a local church pastor or a lay member, make sure that your church knows that the Annual Appeal is happening now(!) and extends through December 31, 2020. Incorporate it into your online or in-person worship, church email and social media.
  • If you are a SNEUCC Conference Staff member, be sure that your area of ministry and programing is incorporating this annual plea into the work that you do.
  • If you or someone that you love has ever experienced the life-changing ministry of Silver Lake, please donate today.

As always, please pray for your Conference’s outdoor ministry settings.
We are living in strange times and we are stronger together when our ministries are vibrant, supportive and supported by each of us. 

With gratitude for all of the ways that you support this vital ministry,

Rev. Kristen Provost Switzer
SLCC Board Member

Kristen Provost Switzer

Silver Lake Camp & Retreat Center

Silver Lake Camp & Retreat Center is a ministry of the Southern New England Conference of the United Church of Christ.
Click here to read our Mission Statement.

223 Low Road | Sharon, CT 06069 | 860.364.5526 | Fax: 860.364.1000 | slcrc@silverlakect.org